Crescent Scars
by ActiveX2012
Summary: In the future, a half-human, half-Grimm queen has taken over the world and pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. Yang leads the last of the human rebellion, and Blake looks to the past for help. Rated T for character death, gore and violence. You have been warned in advance about the violence. My first multi-chapter, I hope you enjoy it.
1. Prologue

As the sun began to set over the barren wasteland, black boots danced softly across the sand as a lithe form dashed silently from shadow to shadow. She stopped by the gnarled and mangled roots of a once mighty oak tree, noticing the Dwarf Nevermores circling in the distance. In the light, it could be seen that she wore a black tank top with sleek armor running down her right arm. On her left, blood-stained bandages were wrapped around her bicep, as well as a black ribbon keeping the bandages secure. Purple, fingerless gloves caked with dirt, sweat, and blood covered each of her tired hands. On her lower half she wore torn purple leggings with spiky, armored shin guards on each leg. Black boots caked with blood and grime adorned her feet. Her face was speckled with dirt as well as a jagged scar running along her right cheekbone. Ripped, torn cat ears stuck out of a black bandana that covered most of her short black hair.

Blake tugged her tattered black scarf further up over her nose and mouth before dashing towards the site. She leapt over rocks and ledges before landing on a ridge overlooking her target. The avian Grimm were circling a solitary corpse lying in the dirt. She whipped her firearm out of its holster and fired a few warning shots, scaring the birds off. Using every muscle in her worn legs, she leapt from the ridge and landed beside the corpse. She knelt down and examined the corpse. The feminine body was clad in tattered leather and broken armor. Bloody rabbit ears stuck out of the shattered helmet and her dead eyes remained open. The ninja gave a heavy sigh and closed the faunus's eyes.

"Rest easy, Velvet," Blake said softly. "Your sacrifice will not be in vain. The Red Queen will pay for the lives she has taken." Blake took the leather satchel from Velvet's bloody corpse and, saying one last silent prayer for her fallen ally, buried the body in a makeshift grave. She then turned and took off for the location of the rebel camp. Blake passed the battered gates surrounding the rebel encampment and walked silently into the largest building. Inside, a tall blonde figure stood at the war table, studying documents.

This figure had long blonde hair with streaks of red. A black eyepatch covered her left eye, and various scars dotted her face. She wore a long brown duster overtop a titanium chest-plate. Her cracked, golden gauntlets were forever adorned upon her wrists, and bloody, spiked armor covered her muscular arms. She wore black leather pants emblazoned with a faded yellow rose. Filthy bandages and colorful ribbons were wrapped around her shins. She wore one weathered brown boot on her left foot, and a metal foot rested where she had lost her right foot earlier in the war.

"Any news?" Yang asked, her voice somewhat worn and weary. Blake pulled her scarf down and spoke softly.

"Dead. Velvet was killed by the Red Queen's forces, but I was able to salvage the food." Yang's head hung low, saddened by the death of yet another fine soldier. Blake laid a hand on Yang's shoulder. "I gave her a burial. She deserved at least that much." Yang was silent as her hands gripped the table tightly, the wood cracking and splintering. "Yang… I know you said it's too risky, but I think we should bring them in." Yang whirled around and pinned Blake against the wall, her remaining eye glowing red.

"I said NO!" Yang bellowed. "I already lost her once, I won't lose her again!" Blake struggled against the blonde's immense strength.

"But she can help!" Yang growled and punched Blake's head as hard as she could. Luckily for Blake, her speed outmatched Yang's and she was able to dodge. Yang's fist broke through the concrete, but Yang was so angry that she didn't care.

"No means no, Blake," Yang said coldly. "I won't allow it." Yang then turned and went back to the table. Blake, somewhat shaken, decided it would be best for her to leave. She walked out into the camp, where the rebels all went about their daily lives: fortifying the walls, rationing what little food they had, and repairing armor and weapons. Blake took a deep breath and spoke softly to herself.

"Forgive me, Yang… but we have no other option…" Blake then turned on her heels and began walking towards what looked to be a makeshift temple.

* * *

A human knight clad in black armor walked into the rocky throne room and knelt before a shadowy throne.

"My queen, the faunus was eliminated." The knight raised his head to meet the gaze of two blood red eyes peering out of the shadows.

"You have done well, Winchester. I was right to spare you," a sultry, yet demonic voice spoke to him. Cardin Winchester stood and quickly glanced at his three teammates standing by the door.

"However, my queen…" he started nervously. "We did just find that a rune was missing from your collection." Silence. "The temporal rune. We know where it might be, though! Recovering it is our number one concern!" An inhuman growl came from the shadows.

"Thrush! Front and center!" the queen demanded. Russel Thrush, the slim knight with the green Mohawk stepped forward slowly. Suddenly, with movements faster than the others could register, a figure shot forth from the shadows and severed Thrush's head from his body, as well as cutting his body into several pieces. The bloody, mangled mess of flesh and bone fell at the feet of a feminine figure. She stood over 6 feet in height and wore a black, skintight leotard. A blood red cape adorned with a black rose hung from her shoulders. Armored boots and gloves made out of Grimm bones adorned her clawed hands and feet. A silver rapier hung from her waist. Her skin was a dark purple, and her eyes a blood red. Scarlet lips curled into a snarl, revealing rows of sharp, jagged teeth. A necklace formed from human rib bones hung around her neck and a crown of bones sat atop her head. In her left hand was a massive, crimson scythe; in her right, a black scythe of similar size pulsing with dark energy.

"You see his remains?" She asked, glaring into Cardin's eyes. His knees shook and he nodded furiously. "Fail me again, and there won't even be this much left of you." She turned and walked back to her throne, in the process crushing Russel's head with her boot. The sharpened heel pierced his head and caused it to burst like a grape, spilling blood and brains all over the floor. "Am I understood?" Cardin nodded furiously.

"Yes, your majesty. Glory to Queen Rose!" Cardin swore, holding his mace over his heart as a sign of honor. The queen waved him off with one claw, before grabbing one of Russel's limbs and taking a hearty bite out of it, her teeth tearing through the muscles and bone with ease.


	2. Chapter 1

Blake walked to the temple and removed a small leather purse from her belt. She took a nervous breath and removed a jagged, worn relic from the purse. The small piece of stone was older than any living creature on the planet and was inscribed with the language of the ancients. "This has to work…" Blake said to herself, tightening her grip around the rune. "We need their help…" The battle-worn faunus set the rune down in a small alcove on the temple floor as she heard soft footsteps behind her. Blake smiled softly and turned. "You're getting sneakier, Jayde, but I can still hear you."

Out of the shadows stepped a teen girl of 17, with dark green hair cascading down her shoulders and down to her mid-back. She wore an olive-green tunic with studded metal bracers on her hands. Her sinewy legs were covered with steel shin-plating and she wore slender metal boots. Her eyes, slender and yellow like a snake, shone through the darkness as the subtle light from the outside reflected off of her sharpened snake fangs. This girl was Jayde, a serpent faunus that Blake had taken under her wing after her parents and the rest of her village had been slaughtered by the Red Queen's forces.

"It's those stupid cat ears of yours," Jayde hissed with a grin. The apprentice reached into a leather satchel hanging from her shoulder and pulled out a large, dusty book. "Here's that book you wanted." Blake took the book and blew the dust from its cover, seeing the words "Spells of the Ancients" etched onto the cover. As Blake knelt before the rune and began to delicately leaf through the torn pages, Jayde slid her forked tongue over her fangs. "You really think Commander Long is going to be okay with this, Miss Belladonna?" As Blake found the page she was searching for, she took a deep breath.

"No, she won't be… but it must be done…" Jayde nodded obediently and knelt beside her teacher. The two began reciting the age-old words from the book as clouds gathered overhead.

"Addo preteritus nobis quod permissum nostrum posterus fulsi." The two chanted in tandem. "Veho lemma per vicis quod addo nos una iterum!" As they finished the incantation, a shining light shot from the rune and into the swirling clouds above.

* * *

As Yang studied the charts and maps in the war room, she noticed Jaune Arc, one of her most trusted lieutenants, walk in and stand beside her. The war had definitely changed him from the scrawny wimp that he once was. His short, blonde hair now fell down onto his broad, muscular shoulders and battle scars dotted his arms. He wore cracked plating on his chest and forearms and simple torn jeans on his bottom half. He had long ago upgraded his simple one-handed sword to a huge, two-handed greatsword that he had slung across his back. Even though it was a mighty sword, Jaune had grown strong enough to wield it in one hand as if it were weightless.

"How goes the training, Jaune?" Yang asked wearily. Jaune looked down at her and crossed his muscular arms.

"The troops are tired, but they're hanging in there…" Yang kept staring silently at her maps as Jaune sighed heavily. "You really think we can actually win? The Red Queen can literally conjure Grimm out of thin air and our numbers are dwindling fast."

"We have no choice but to try," the blonde commander told him. "Too many of our fellow men have fallen trying to stop her. The Red Queen won't win as long as I can still draw a breath, I swear it." All of a sudden, they heard a boom of thunder behind them. "Looks like a storm is brewing…" Yang remarked as she rearranged the table. Jaune turned and noticed the beam of light connecting the temple to the clouds.

"Um, Yang?" he said slowly. "You should see this…" Yang turned slowly and froze when she saw the temple. Jaune noticed her hands curl into fists, shaking with blinding rage. "Yang, calm down…" He tried to hold her back but even he couldn't stop her from storming out of the war room and towards the temple. He had no choice but to follow her, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

* * *

Blake and Jayde knelt before the wide beam of light, repeating the incantation. "What does the book say to do after the chant?" Blake asked Jayde as the wind began to swirl around them. Jayde checked the book, trying to keep the pages together.

"It says to ask the spirits for who we want brought to us!" Jayde told the feline faunus. Blake nodded and looked up at the sky.

"Spirits! Bring Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee forward in time to us!" She called loudly. The wind began to howl as it increased in speed and ferocity. Even above the howling gusts, she heard the metal footstep of the rebel commander and in one fluid motion she rolled away to the side and drew her weapon, narrowly avoiding a brutal attack from Yang. Yang's punch missed and cracked through the stone floor. Jayde leapt back as well and drew her weapons, dual Sai that doubled as pistols, as Jaune drew his sword. Yang's shoulders heaved as she bellowed angrily at her second-in-command.

"I gave you an order, Blake!" Yang shouted. "You deliberately went behind my back!?"

"Yang just wait!" Blake cried, dodging yet another ferocious punch from Yang. However, Yang was too angry to be reasoned with. Yang lashed out once more, this time moving faster than the faunus, and knocked her against the concrete walls of the temple. Before the brawler could let another attack loose, the wind died down and the light faded. She turned to see two young teens laying in a heap in the center of the room. She dropped to her knees, her jaw dropping as before her eyes she saw Ruby and Weiss, as alive and as human as the day they first met.

"Ruby? Weiss?" Yang asked breathlessly. "How is it possible?"

**Thanks everybody for reading. Sorry it took so long to update… I don't have any excuses, but I am sorry. I'll try to update more regularly now that I have some more time. Next time I'm going to get into a little of the backstory of how humanity fell apart and how Queen Rose came to power.**

**By the way, the rough translation I got online of the Latin incantation is "Bring our past to us and allow our future to shine. Bring them through time and make us whole again." I'm sure it's not an exact or correct translation but it'll do. My apologies to anyone who actually does speak Latin.**


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